Justice for the Broken
by You got the crowbar
Summary: Baxter hound is a relentless bounty hunter and A-class workaholic, he'll see any job through to the end, no matter what.


The city of novac had only changed slightly since the Courier passed through, with only one sniper left after Boone shoved off, they were now considerably more vulnerable. Manny worked three extra hours, but he still needed sleep, so there was a good, long period of time at night when no one was there to protect the new saloon. The town had accumulated a few new regulars because of the freshly added attractions. With new people there came new rumors, and the town was now bursting with gossip.

Everyone had some sort of rumor circulating, even the long standing citizens of the town had some sort of dirt to dig up. People claimed that Cliff Briscoe had a whole bunch of toys stashed away that he would play with. Word was that Daisy Whitman used to fly for the enclave. Why, there were even rumors that Jeani May was in deep with the legion before she died. Rumor this and rumor that, obviously none of them were true, at least that's what they hoped.

Boy, did they hope, because if any of those rumors were true, it was that Mack Thommas was actually an outlaw from Idaho. Whispers spread that his name wasn't actually Mack Thommas, it was Ford Slick, the meanest man in the Mojave, a man so ruthless even the devil wouldn't try to take him in for the bounty on his head. Then again, people weren't sure what the devil would do with five thousand caps. On top of everything, Mack had three daughters and a wife who loved him dearly, even the cruelest of men wouldn't take him in, still though, the rumor held some weight and persisted, especially now.

A drunkard had wandered into town two weeks ago, forty-something year old Bobby four-finger was rumored to be a bounty hunter named Baxter Hound, a lethal killer who became a bounty hunter simply because it meant killing for caps. The rumor didn't hold up, though, Baxter was always sober, he had have to be in order to bring in all the contracts that he had. In other words, if it was a disguise, it was a Damn good one. Other than the soberness, people didn't have much to go on, no one ever saw Baxter's face, he supposedly wore a long duster and a cowboy hat tilted down so no one but his target saw his face, all anyone else saw was that revolver in his hand. Baxter was allegedly vicious and loved every second of bloodshed with a passion, smiling and licking the blood off of his knife when he finished dismembering fresh kill.

Regardless of what people thought, they would find out soon enough, because that night, Bobby four-finger went into the new saloon and didn't come back out. No one did, no one, except for an old gunslinger and a bounty hunter who was ready to cash in.

* * *

Mack walked into the bar ready for some friendly conversation, the wife and kids were in bed fast asleep, he had joined his wife earlier but he had been struck with another nightmare and was finding sleep particularly elusive. He walked into the shabby building and sat down at the bar, quickly being noticed by a few people who cheered him on as Stanley the bartender meandered over to him, limping with his peg leg.

"Damn, sorry about that," Stanley muttered. "You'd think with that tech out east they could make me a better replacement leg. Anyway, what can I getcha?"

Before Mack could reply, Bobby Four-fingers wandered sloppily over to sit next to Mack.

"One whisky for *HIC* me and the insomniac."

"Ah, Bobby I can't let you buy me a drink, if anything I owe you for saving Lisa from that gecko!"

"Nonsense I ins-*HIC* insist!"

"Nah, nah, c'mon let me buy you a drink."

Bobby's hand suddenly reached out and grasped Mack by the wrist, stealthily nodding and glancing back at a shadowy figure with a black cowboy hat that sat alone in the corner.

"I really think you should take me up on this, Mack." Bobby spoke for the first time without a hiccup or his usual bouncy tone.

"Uh, o-ok." Mack began to sweat suddenly.

Bobby gave Stanley, who was beginning to worry as well, a few caps for the drinks. Stanley quickly returned with one whisky bottle and two shot glasses. He filled the tiny glasses nervously before placing the bottle between the two.

"Will that be all?" Stanly asked cautiously, well aware of the elephant in the room.

"Yeah, that's it for now." Bobby said as he stared off into empty space. Stanley sped off to serve different characters.

"Uh, so, what're ya thinking there, Bobby." Mack asked, stuttering.

"I'm thinking that guy looks an awful lot like a certain bounty hunter, and he ain't here on vacation." Bobby whispered as he glanced around the bar.

The bar was surprisingly full for being so late at night, behind him there was a group of three men, celebrating the birth of someone's child. In the opposite corner of the shadowy figure there sat a young woman, covered in dirt and grime, Stanley occasionally brought her a drink to cheer her up, but she only seemed to become more morose. In the middle of the room there was a couple, both happily chatting and drinking.

"Hey, Bobby." Mack said, following Bobby's eyes and suddenly finding his courage. "Who do you reckon he's here for?"

"I think it's pretty obvious," Bobby said. "Even you must've heard the rumors."

"You reckon their true?" Mack said, getting more and more serious.

"I know that they are." Bobby made eye contact with Mack, and for a moment, mack saw something else in his friend's eyes. Something old, something broken, something deadly.

"Between you and I, I think it's best we keep the charade up, just for a bit longer."

"You and I both, my friend." Mack replied, finally downing his shot.

"On the count of three, act drunk with me, and we'll walk out of the bar." Bobby said, it took less than a second for Mack to nod his head in approval.

Bobby raised his pointer finger, mouthing the word "one". Then his middle finger, "two". With the slightest hesitation, Bobby raised his ring finger as Mack released a massive belch.

"Weeell, thank for th- *HIC* drink, friend, your the best!" Mack said sloppily, attempting to stand up before falling onto Bobby's shoulder.

"You can't walk, you clutz, you're too durnk!" Bobby replied in the tone that Mack knew him for.

"Ah, shut up and tak me to the der."

"Christ alive you're blasted! Come on yer drunkard."

With that, Bobby pretended to give Mack some needed support as they walk over to the door. There didn't seem to be any reaction from the bounty hunter, until they were a step away from leaving. The bounty hunter shot up, pulling out two ten millimeter S. and covering the room in machine gun fire. Stanley was riddled with bullets, the group celebrating were obliterated, and the young woman caught a bullet straight to the skull. The couple had it the worst, one was shot through the neck, the other got two in the chest. The only two left alive were Mack and Bobby, and the hunter's attention was now turned to them.

"Baxter Hound!" The hunter yelled. "You are wanted for multiple offenses against New Vegas, Caesar's Legion, and the NCR. Prepare to be-"

The bounty hunter looked up as he spoke so that the hat that covered his face in shadow was finally positioned in a way that they could see his face. He was redheaded and clean shaven, his nose showed signs of being punched a few too many times, and he had a shit eating grin plastered to his face. When his eyes focused on the two men, however, his grin faded to confusion, then to shock, and finally: fear. He trailed off from his speech about claiming the bounty, because the three revolvers now pointed towards his head and his empty magazines signified it was no longer his turn to talk. In the blink of an eye, Mack had pulled out two revolvers and had them ready for a headshot, and no one could've even witnessed Bobby whip out his hand cannon at the speed of sound. Bobby had his eyes focused on the bounty hunter, but Mack's gaze was directed towards Bobby, neither of their guns left sight of the bounty hunter's forehead.

"Wait, what? Hold on, I'm confused, Bobby are you Baxter or does he think that I am?" Mack said, his guns still focused.

"What do you think I meant by 'I know the rumors are true'?" Bobby said, glancing over to his ally.

"Well, there could of been a whole slew a things, I assumed you were talkin' about me!"

"No! I mean yeah, but no, look, did I not accurately convey- ok, you know what!" Becoming frustrated Bobby, or Baxter as it were, shot the hunters guns from his hands and lowered his gun, turning his body over to face Mack.

"Maybe I should elaborate," Baxter said. "What I meant by that was that I knew both rumors were true." Baxter said as the bounty hunter pulled out a pistol, it was quickly shot away by Mack, but at least he tried.

"Huh," Mack pondered for a moment. "So you mean you know that I'm an outlaw from Idaho trying to repent for the evil things I did and you came here to kill me for the reward because you're a famously cruel bounty hunter." Mack said in one breath.

"First of all," Baxter began to respond. "Those are some impressive lungs. Secondly, no, I'm not here to kill you." The bounty hunter attempted to pull a revolver from his belt before it was shot away by Baxter. "Thirdly, I'm famous, ain't really all that cruel." Baxter shot a bullet that scraped by the bounty hunters pocket, allowing a combat knife to fall out of a newly created hole. "And finally, I don't kill people for caps because I'm a bounty hunter, I'm a bounty hunter because I kill people for caps, no one knows you're out here but me, and, as I said, you ain't on my list." Baxter shot another hole in the bounty hunters other pocket, which emptied out a bag full of caps.

"That was unnecessary and rude." The bounty hunter said as he knelt down and retrieved his caps.

"Sorry, just checkin'." Baxter responded politely.

"Okay, okay, I think I get it. But, uh, do bounty hunters usually have bounties on their head?" Mack asked.

"It's more common than you might think, but all of my contracts have been completely legal, so I don't know what this moron's goin' off of." Bax turned back to the bounty hunter. "Who's your agent?"

"I'm not going to tell you that! You're just gonna come right out the gate after humiliating me, and expect me to just tell you everything? Hell no! Eat a dick, fuckface, I know torture, and I ain't afraid to die!"

"Well, I guess there's no point then." Baxter said, raising his revolver.

"Wait, wha-?" Before he could finish, the bounty hunter's head was blown clean off.

Baxter wandered over to the corpse and knelt Down to search for clues, he found a note in the hunter's back pocket, slightly damage from a gunshot, that detailing the order. The attack wasn't commissioned by the NCR or the Legion. The letter was instead signed:

"By and for the order and justice of the mighty council, Jonathan Isaacc."

"Great, another group of weirdos." Baxter whispered as he stood up, turning to face Mack again. "Well, I'm heading out, I'd advise you to work on that gun arm."

"Why is that?" Mack said with a snort.

"Cause you don't stand a chance against me as you are now, there haven't been any contracts for you yet but..." Baxter said, taking a black cowboy hat out from behind the bar and placing it on his head. "I'd hate to take a father away from his family," Baxter pulled out a knife and sliced off one of the now deceased Stanley's fingers, the whole reason he was in town in the first place. Fingerprints were still taken nowadays, and they were still the easiest way to identify someone. When the NCR found out Stanley was dead, they would be disappointed, they liked to punish deserters themselves, either way, Baxter would be five hundred caps richer, so he didn't particularly mind. "That being said, that contract rolls around… Well," Baxter approached the saloon door, drenched in blood. "I reckon I'll get over it."

Then he left Mack there in the bar, as he wandered out into the wasteland, looking for a new contract.

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally! I hope you guys can see what took this one so long, the others will be shorter this one just spiraled out of control. I'm psyched about finally starting this story, the plot for part 1 is completely finished, I just have to write them up. Since these are much longer than UNM the updates will be less common, so sorry about that. Speaking of UNM, part two's plot is finished and I'm working on ironing out the kinks, shouldn't take longer than two weeks, see ya then!


End file.
